Page 17 of Taming His Vampire Mate

I scowled. “Delightful.”

“It’s the third time this week. You keep ignoring her.”

“It’s a bad idea to ignore a witch,” Derek said, shaking his head as though he knew anything at all.

I frowned at him. “Exactly whose side are you on, human?”

He snorted, unrepentant. “Preferably the side that doesn’t get me stuffed into a boiling cauldron.”

“Call her,” James said quietly, before I could retort. “You can’t still be mad at her for failing. She’s willing to try again. And the next full moon is in a couple of days.”

Naturally, I wasn’t angry. Nor had she failed. Her last attempt had gone beautifully. I could leave anytime I pleased, sail off into the sunset, and start dragging murderous vampires back by the handful. The plan had worked. The next step was to try it on a vampire who’d lost every trace of humanity.

And ifthatworked, everything would change for me.

I’d leave my position here. I’d already helped Nathaniel create peace and safety for the city’s supernaturals and humans. Hell, he was fast on his way to solving Seattle’s homelessness crisis—he and every vampire in Seattle, plus most of the witches. Partly to unite the city. Partly because Ethan, his mate, had opened his eyes to how bad some people had it. And because the two of them had unofficially adopted Nimue, the young unhoused person they’d met at the young adult homeless shelter Ethan used to work at. She was in college now on their dime, calling them every week, full of excitement about the books she was reading. She wanted to be a librarian.

Leave it to Ethan and Nathaniel to choose the most boring one of the bunch.

But the point was, I wasn’t needed. Not really.

And then there was the thing I couldn’t say aloud: that I had already met my mate the night Poppy cast her spell. And if I admitted it, everyone would know.

And then would come the questions. They’d want to know how I felt. They’d be horrified that I had looked my golden chance for an eternity of domestic bliss square in the face and then run the other way.

“She’s going to be at the council meeting tonight,” James said. “You might as well speak to her first. You can’t avoid her forever.”

I downed the glass of blood in two gulps, barely tasting it.

James was a friend—one of the people I’d foolishly let in—and now he thought that meant he could give me advice. My fault. Give someone an inch, and they’ll take a mile. And then ask for more.

I scowled at Derek and James in turn. “Watch me.”

CHAPTER SIX || JEREMY

My eyes snapped open just before the ocean of blood crashed over me.

“Rookwood,” I said hoarsely, sitting upright. I blinked against the harsh midday sun, trying to get my bearings. The dream had been so vivid it felt like I was right there, in that eerily quiet town. The blond vampire had been there too, the same way he always was now. Close enough to touch, if I wanted to.

My mate. The monster fate had chosen for me.

It made sense that he would dream of abandoned towns and oceans of blood. Probably the equivalent of Disney World for him.

That thought—armor I tried to wrap around myself—didn’t stop the keen sense of loss when I woke to find he wasn’t with me.

It had been almost a month since I met him in the forest, and every day since I’d fought the urge to go find him. I dreamed of him whenever I slept in my human form, sun high overhead, when I could no longer stay a wolf.

His face haunted my every waking moment, too.

My wolf—an impulsive creature on its best day—clamored to go after him, stirring restlessly in my chest. It was sure we could find him. The man in me was equally certain. As if I could point in his direction at any moment, the way a compass finds true north.

“So, this is what you’ve been up to. Living rough in the woods. Gotta say, I’m not exactly impressed.”

Lindsey, the half-sister I hadn’t seen in nearly two years, sat on the moss-grown steps of the ruined log cabin I sometimes slept in. Her kind face was bathed in late June sun, her expression pinched with worry.

How long had she been sitting there?

I was across the clearing, but I could smell the antiseptic tang clinging to her, like she was right beside me. My wolf didn’t like that strange edge to her familiar scent. Too much like bright lights, cold tables, and pain. Which tracked, given she’d become a veterinarian after leaving the pack. She lived across the mountains, in Ellensburg.